Obama Has a Dream Too

Photo courtesy of DemocraticUnderground.com

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is renowned as the greatest cry for freedom and repairing racial injustices. King saw the United States as being a truly free nation for everyone, without discrimination and intolerance. Today we are still striving for King’s dream and Barack Obama has clearly continued down the path King fought to take.

Our nation’s first great sin was slavery. We wanted to create a land of opportunity. We wanted to create a land of equality. We wanted to create a land of prosperity. We sought to accomplish all this with slavery, too.

King surely would be proud to see Obama standing in front of an audience in Philadelphia, PA, addressing the nation on race and our continued struggles surrounding it. We live country where now an African-American, and woman, can run to be the President. While this is a huge step in our nation, there is still much work to be done. Obama understands this and knows we cannot merely ignore the racial tension still boiling in the melting pot of America.

“I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together,” said Obama. “I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.”

Statements from Reverend Jeremiah Wright that surfaced into the media’s hands quickly became short sound bites that were spread across the news. It was their new scandal and they were going to ride this for as long as possible. Feelings on race were now spewed across television screens.

Commentators were deeming Obama either “too black” or “not black enough,” but what they are failing to do is see past his skin color. Do you think they would ever deem McCain as being “too white” or “not white enough”? No, because the labeling of Obama already implies a stereotype of what he should or shouldn’t be based on his race.

Reverend Jeremiah Wright has now placed the sticky issue of deep-rooted racial tension, often ignored in mainstream media, into the direct center of the camera lens. Obama approached his speech on race gracefully, which was important since this speech could make or break him as potential candidate. Unfortunately, only selective sound bites were cautiously thrown into the mainstream media. The news of Obama’s “Race Speech” seems to be spreading though. Video clips and people’s comments of support can be found strewn across the internet, so this shows that people are listening.

“I can no more disown (Reverend Wright) than I can disown the black community,” said Obama. “I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother.”

While Obama does not condone racist attitudes, he does help reason why these attitudes are there. To ignore them wouldn’t allow progress to be made. In addition to discussing the oppression that has shaped Wright, Obama spoke on how his grandmother said she had a “fear of black men who passed by her on the street.” This was an important element to note, because there is not tension in only one race. The issue of race is on the top of Obama’s agenda and he wants to make sure it is on the top of the nation’s too.

“These people are a part of me and they are a part of America, this country that I love,” said Obama.

Obama feels that unity is something America must accomplish. While we might have our differences, we must come together in order to solve our problems. We cannot solve the toughest issues of our time without the support and understanding from all sides of an issue.

“Legalized Discrimination” is the title Obama gave to previous of African-American conditions. This phrase surely caught the ear of government officials for better or worse. The term is something we might need to be reminded of though. The disparities of the past have a lot to do with the disparities of the present.

The “American Dream” is something everyone has a different view on, but it is something that makes this country unique. While we pursue our dreams we shouldn’t do so in disregard to others. Obama feels investing in our country will not only help others, but it will also help you prosper.

“This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected,” said Obama.

While the full effect of Obama’s speech may not be felt yet, it should be one that goes down in the history books of academia. Bringing out the internalized anger, fear, and regret within racism has already shown the effect he can have on our nation. One might wonder what he could do if he was elected.